Second Life

Second life means an extended life after retirement because the average life expectancy has improved. However, these days, a second life means a life in a virtual 3-D online community. A new concept of second life is different from the former sense of second life in that people can live their real lives and second lives at the same time, while in the former sense of “second life,” people can live their second life only after their first life.

Linden Lab, the maker of Second Life, is experiencing huge success. The company started its business based on the new concept of “second life” in 2003.

Enter www.secondlife.com, and you will find a new world where you can see residents, buildings, streets, forest, islands, seas, pets, conference rooms and cafeterias-almost everything you can see in real life. You can build a house, trade, dine at an expensive restaurant and talk with friends over a cup of coffee at a cafeteria. Avatars in Second Life more actively and dynamically participate in economic activities than people in real life. Their virtual currency is called Linden dollars and a dollar is traded at about 280 Linden dollars. Some 20,000 out of the total population of 5.5 million are Koreans.

Concerts by famous pop singers such as Duran Duran and press conference of politicians are often held in Second Life. Reuters sends correspondents and the BBC holds a regular festival on a lent island. Senator Hillary Clinton campaigns there and the Swedish government has even established an embassy. What is remarkable is that big companies are also eying this virtual online community. Second Life is drawing attention from them because there are no regulations, no taxes, making it a virtual dream market economy where free trade is the rule. There is even a company that recorded $2.5 million annual sales on a $9.95 investment in two years.

The number of new companies soared to more than 10,000. About 1,000 new goods and services appear every month. Total output is expected to exceed $600 million this year. Multinational companies including IBM, Dell, BMW and Toyota have built branch offices. Samsung is also considering building an office in Second Life, not as a PR strategy, but as a way to reduce costs. If that happens, management meetings and shareholders meetings will not necessarily be held in Samsung’s headquarters in Seoul. The world is changing so fast.

Yuk Jeong-soo, Editorial Writer, sooya@donga.com